50 Facts About Renato Sobral

1.

Renato Sobral is the Head Instructor of Babalu's Iron Gym Cerritos and has a Luta Livre black belt under Marco Ruas and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr.

2.

Renato Sobral is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and began competing in wrestling from a young age of nine.

3.

Renato Sobral later went on to be a South American Wrestling Champion in 1998, a three-time Brazilian National Wrestling Champion in 1998,1999, and 2000, and was a Brazilian National Muay Thai Champion in 1992.

4.

Renato Sobral joined the Gracie Barra Combat Team and trained in Ruas Vale Tudo, a martial arts system developed by Marco Ruas.

5.

Renato Sobral made his professional mixed martial arts debut on 27 September 1997 in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro.

6.

Renato Sobral won all three of his fights on the same night by strikes and then had a one-fight stint in International Vale Tudo before fighting in Brazilian Vale Tudo on 24 July 1999.

7.

Renato Sobral again won all three of his fights that night and then made his debut in the Japanese RINGS organization.

8.

Renato Sobral made his RINGS debut against Georgian wrestler Zaza Tkeshelashvili and won via kimura arm submission.

9.

Renato Sobral followed this up with a unanimous decision win over British kickboxer Lee Hasdell.

10.

Renato Sobral lost the fight via minority decision, two judges scored the bout a draw while a third judge scored the bout in Henderson's favor.

11.

Renato Sobral then won his next four consecutive fights before losing to Valentijn Overeem by a toe hold submission.

12.

Renato Sobral defeated Kiyoshi Tamura via majority decision, followed this up with another majority decision win over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.

13.

Renato Sobral then faced Fedor Emilianenko at the 10th Anniversary show and lost via unanimous decision.

14.

Renato Sobral made his UFC debut at UFC 28 against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith.

15.

Renato Sobral next fought Kevin Randleman at UFC 35 on January 11,2002.

16.

Renato Sobral's next fight was against Elvis Sinosic at UFC 38 on July 13,2002.

17.

Renato Sobral next fought Chuck Liddell at UFC 40 on November 22,2002.

18.

Renato Sobral lost via head kick in the first round.

19.

Renato Sobral left the UFC in early 2003 and fought for minor and local promotions until his return in 2005.

20.

Renato Sobral returned to the UFC at UFC 52 against Travis Wiuff on April 16,2005.

21.

Renato Sobral won the fight via armbar in the second round.

22.

Renato Sobral next fought future Middleweight and Light Heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen at UFC 55 on October 7,2005.

23.

Renato Sobral won the fight via triangle choke in the second round.

24.

Renato Sobral's next fight was at UFC 57 against Mike Van Arsdale on February 4,2006.

25.

Renato Sobral won the fight via rear naked choke in the first round.

26.

At UFC 62, Renato Sobral was defeated by Chuck Liddell in a rematch for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

27.

Renato Sobral's next fight was at UFC 74 against David Heath.

28.

Renato Sobral secured another takedown and then worked to an anaconda choke.

29.

Heath tapped out, but Renato Sobral continued to hold the anaconda choke, ignoring referee Steve Mazzagatti's commands and resisting his attempts to break the hold.

30.

Renato Sobral did not release the choke until Heath passed out from hypoxia.

31.

Renato Sobral later competed in an event for the Ring of Fire promotion, defeating K-1 veteran Rodney Faverus by submission.

32.

Renato Sobral was scheduled to fight fellow UFC veteran Vernon "Tiger" White in a match to crown the first WCO Light Heavyweight Champion.

33.

Renato Sobral next fought his second fight for Affliction, this time against Sokoudjou at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on 24 January 2009 in a light heavyweight fight.

34.

Renato Sobral was set to fight fellow Brazilian Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at the past event Strikeforce Presents: Lawler Vs Shields in St Louis, Missouri on 6 June 2009, but the bout was scratched.

35.

Renato Sobral was next set to make his third appearance for Affliction in a fight against Gegard Mousasi at Affliction: Trilogy, but the event was canceled after losing its main event.

36.

Renato Sobral lost the title to Mousasi via knockout in the first round.

37.

However, in his post-fight interview Renato Sobral stated that he would not fight Lawal and instead requested a rematch with Dan Henderson who he fought over ten years ago.

38.

Renato Sobral's request was later fulfilled and he fought Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu II on 4 December 2010.

39.

In late December 2011, After one year of inactivity Renato Sobral signed an exclusive deal with Singaporean MMA promotion ONE Championship known as ONE FC, ONE FC officials stated that Renato Sobral has "global exclusivity" with the promotion.

40.

Renato Sobral was slated to fight Melvin Manhoef on 31 March 2012 at ONE Fighting Championship 3 which was to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore but the two sides were unable to agree on a weight and he instead became the wrestling coach in Wanderlei Silva's team on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.

41.

Renato Sobral defeated Tatsuya Mizuno at ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors in Kuala Lumpur, via an armbar submission in the first round.

42.

Renato Sobral faced Combat Sambo Russia National Champion Mikhail Zayats on 17 January 2013 at Bellator 85.

43.

Renato Sobral lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

44.

Renato Sobral faced Jacob Noe in the opening round of a 4-man tournament at Bellator 96 on 19 June 2013.

45.

Renato Sobral lost when the referee stopped the fight for a standing TKO.

46.

Dean Lister and Renato Sobral fought to a draw at Metamoris 3 in a submission grappling match.

47.

Chael Sonnen and Renato Sobral fought to a draw in a trilogy fight at Metamoris 6 in a submission grappling match.

48.

Renato Sobral and his wife Natasha have two daughters, who were born in May 2009.

49.

Renato Sobral's nickname comes from a brand of bubblegum that he used to chew.

50.

In May 2019 Renato Sobral revealed that he was suffering from symptoms consistent with early onset of CTE.